A Cheap and Easy Guide to Self-Publishing eBooks by Tom Hua - HTML preview

Library can help you in the following ten ways:

1. Publish your eBooks

For a reasonable fee they will turn your finished document into an eBook. They will assign their own ISBN number to it and have it listed in Books-In-Print. You can still offer your eBooks to be sold by the Booklocker, Mightywords.com or any other on-line eBook seller that sell non-exclusively. 1stbooks Library will allow you to retain your electronic and print rights. The 1stbooks Library publishing contract is non-exclusive.

2. List Your eBooks In the 1stbooks Library Bookstore

Yes, it is always nice to have another bookstore listing for your eBooks. I first discovered the 1stbooks Library by conducting a search for "eBooks" on the Yahoo search directory. Since 1stbooks came up first on the Yahoo listing, I knew the 1stbooks Library was expert in Internet marketing. They had the "post position" being the first eBook publisher listed. I felt that their bookstore would receive more page views than any other eBook seller would.

People get tired of scrolling down their computer screen and looking through many choices during an Internet search.

Always make note of which website is coming up first in your search results. You may want to join up with them later.

Now, over a year later, 1stbooks Library still has that "post position" on the Yahoo search directory. There are over 4000 eBooks listed on the 1stbooks Library and more to come. They want to be known as the Amazon.com of Internet eBook Stores

3. Format and Sell Your Rocketbook Editions

Again,   for   a   reasonable   fee,   1stbooks   Library   will   format   and   market   your Rocketeditions. This will allow you to sell Rocketeditions even if you don't have a publishing relationship with NuvoMedia.

Rocketeditions of books are selling like crazy. I personally sell more Rocketeditions on Barnes & Noble and Powells.com than just about any other eBook media. Don't overlook this wonderful eBook selling opportunity!

I am predicting by the end of the year 2000, hundreds of thousands of people will own Rocketbooks. Many of these people will be looking for your eBook as a Rocketedition.

4. Print and Bind Your eBooks

1stbooks Library has a unique system of taking your eBooks, printing and binding them on demand. You are allowed to purchase as few or as many books as you need at a wholesale price.

Now you will have a printed and bound book that looks like all of the other perfect bound trade paperback books stocked in bookstores and libraries.

You will receive a unique ISBN number as well. Your new books will be listed in Books– In-Print, which is a major reference for bookstores and libraries.

Your book will be available at the 1stbooks Library. Your book will now have two listings, doubling its exposure at the 1stbooks Library on-line bookstore. You will be listed as an eBook for download and as a trade paperback to be shipped via mail or United Parcel Service to your customer.

Generally an order placed to 1stbooks Library's website will just take a few days to process and your printed and bound version will be sent out to the customer.

By the way, the packaging of your book will be quality packaging, just like Amazon.com. Your customer will receive the book in tiptop shape.

1stbooks Library will handle the credit card transactions and give you reports on what you have sold through their system.

They will also pay you royalties that are much greater than standard book publishing royalties.

Now you will have a "real book" to impress your friends and neighbors. Hey and maybe even Oprah!

5. Place Your Printed and Bound Version in the Ingram Database.

One solid fact about getting a bookstore to carry your books is that you need to have a working relationship with a large book distributor or book wholesaler.

Librarians  and  bookstores  want  and  need  the  services  of  large  distributors  and wholesalers.

They do not want to write thousands of checks to authors and small publishers each month, but they do want to carry their titles.

Wholesalers and distributors enable bookstores to carry thousands of books and only a few checks have to be written. They also help control the inventory costs of each store.

Ingram  is  one  of  best  known  and  reliable  wholesalers  in  the  bookstore  and  library acquisition  world.  Along  with  a  standard  Books-In  Print  reference  book  that  most bookstores and libraries use, Ingram provides their own version of Books-In-Print.

Once  you  are  in  Ingram's  database,  you  can  approach  bookstores  for  signings  and libraries to purchase your books.

Also, when Ingram gets an order from a library or bookstore, they will have your book printed on demand and shipped to the store within three to five days. Lightning Print is the name of Ingram's service that provides such a fast turnaround on small book orders.

This is much quicker than the two weeks or four weeks quote you will receive when a bookstore has to deal directly with a standard book publisher.

1stbooks provides the electronic files including the book covers to Ingram's Lightning Print system and the books are printed on-demand. The probability of handling costly returns is very minimal.

This print-on-demand technology will help bookstores and libraries carry more books and reduce storage and inventory costs.

6. Get Your Book Printed on Demand at Store Locations throughout the United States!

This is really exciting. Sprout, a digital printing company out of Atlanta,